How Mouth Breathing Affects A Child’s Facial Structure And More

Breath is life. It’s such a natural part of life that most people don’t ever think about it.

For instance, do you know whether your child breathes through their nose or their mouth? Most parents do not know the answer nor do they have any idea of the many health consequences mouth breathing can have on a child’s life.

If your child is breathing through their mouth, it can affect their immune system, their posture, their ability to pay attention, their mood and even change their facial structure. Mouth breathing can change how your child’s whole body develops as well as the condition of their health for the rest of their life.

Biological Dentist and SafBaby Expert Dr. Raymond Silkman shares his expertise from years of helping patients, clarifying orthodontic approaches and relating the bigger picture of what is happening to a child who is mouth breathing.

Normal Breathing

Breathing through the mouth versus breathing through the nose has extremely disparate effects on the body. Human beings are not designed to breathe through their mouths. The mouth is designed for making sounds (communication) and for consuming food. At all other times, the mouth should naturally remain in a relaxed, but closed position.

When a child is breathing normally, the breathing is silent, rhythmic and effortless. The optimal progression is: air is inhaled through the nose while the lips are closed. The diaphragm pulls air deep into the lungs filling them completely. Then, it releases the air allowing the body to oxygenate. When the body is fully oxygenated, the nervous system can exist in a parasympathetic state, a relaxed state that is required for many bodily functions to occur.

Normal breathing supports healthy facial development which can be readily seen in how this young child’s facial features and teeth are developing.

Facial Structure and Mouth Breathing

Mouth breathing has wide-ranging consequences, from those that just are annoying to those that are life-changing. Minor problems include chronically dry lips, mouth and teeth (which increases the propensity for cavities). More often, however, mouth breathing leads to crooked teeth, an underdeveloped jaw and poor development of the face.

When the mouth is left open to breathe, the muscles in the cheeks become taut. These taut cheek muscles apply an external force to the upper and lower jaw which creates a narrowing affect on the dental arches and the face. Also, the tongue, which is meant to naturally rest at the roof of the mouth, drops down into the floor of the mouth. This can cause the upper arch to become narrower (due to the lack of lateral pressure) and the mid-face will not develop normally because the tongue does not push this part of the face out.

A child may end up with a narrow face or with mid-face deficiencies, the outcome determined by genes and other factors.

Impacts of Less Oxygen

Mouth breathers also generally use the wrong body parts to breathe; they initiate breathing in the upper chest as opposed to the diaphragm. Because the body has to exert a great deal of energy to pull the ribs apart to inhale, breathing is labored. Air only fills the upper portion of the lungs and never completely fulfills the body’s need for oxygen. As a result, a chest-breather will take extra breaths or may develop a yawning habit. This is the body’s way of taking in a large volume of air to make up for the oxygen deficit.

This kind of breathing is often erratic, noisy or inconsistent and keeps the individual in a sympathetic nervous system state. This “fight or flight” state does not support many of the biochemical and organ functions that require a relaxed nervous system: digestion, nutrient distribution, sleep and hormonal patterns, growth, healing, recovery from exposure to environmental stressors and toxicity, mental acuity, mood modulation and many others.

Mouth breathing also greatly affects a child’s mental development. Because children who breathe through their mouths are not fully oxygenated, they often do not rest well at night. When they wake up in the morning, often they may be tired and find it difficult to maintain focus and attention.

Structural Changes in the Body

To compensate for developmental deficiencies from an abnormal breathing pattern, the body develops a forward head posture. This in turn places undue and long-term stress on the neck, shoulder and cervical muscles, resulting in a chronically tight neck as well as head and shoulder pain. The lower back also becomes arched in an attempt to counter balance the weight of the head leading to weakness or pain in the lower back. And, the adjustment of the body continues with gradual changes to the hips, knees, ankles and feet as well as internal organs that depend on a normal alignment.

Summary

Mouth Breathing is a topic that no one talks about. It is often accepted as being normal especially if a child has nasal congestion. Yet, breathing through the mouth impacts everything: facial development, the alignment and functioning of the body and mental acuity. In an upcoming article, Dr. Silkman will go into more detail about how to recognize if your child is breathing through their mouth and the importance of early intervention.

Related Post

Dr. Raymond Silkman has been providing holistic dental care to families for 25 years. His approach considers the interrelationships and influences of body structures, organs and systems as well as the overall nutritional and emotional health of each patient. These typically reveal the underlying causes of dental issues such as decay, periodontal disease, dental crowding and more. His incorporation of alternative health modalities has helped patients bring about profound changes in their well-being.

Dr. Silkman’s protocols also include safe removal and detoxification of toxic dental materials, conservative approaches to restorations, functional jaw orthopedics for proper jaw development and care for TMJ and orofacial pain.

Through nationwide lectures and his writings, Dr. Silkman educates about how prevention far outweighs the cure. He especially encourages mothers to be aware of the critical importance of nutrition during preconception and pregnancy which is when the foundation is laid for a child’s entire lifetime.